Latin Alternative

Is There a Latin Alternative? – Answer: Yes

I won't be attending SXSW this year, so I will not know what transpired, first-hand. Now that I've put that out there, I want to say a few things about a panel that will be taking place there. The panel is called, "Is There a Latin Alternative?" For those not in the know, the answer is yes. Here is the full description of the panel: A Spanish-language band can gain instant access to the growing Hispanic audience and sponsors targeting that demographic by marketing themselves as "Latin". But how limiting is being marketed as a "Latin" band — even Latin alternative? Can bands [...]

Let’s Call It “Alternativo,” Instead of “Latin Alternative”

The emerging genre, "Latin Alternative," is a label to more or less separate some of the newer artists that have arrived on the scene over the last few years that don't exactly fit in some of the various Latin styles that many of us have come to know. Artists such as Ximena Sariñana, Café Tacuba and Zoé have been tagged with the Latin Alternative name, but the name isn't quite right.In an interview with Jasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras, who host NPR's "Alt.Latino," for About.com, Contreras brings up a good point: "Latin Alternative" is only used among those in the music industry. From [...]

iTunes Store Now Available in Latin America – Finally

iTunes announced this week that the iTunes Store has opened in several countries in Latin America. Why it took so long, who knows? The good news is that it's here and consumers from that continent can finally purchase music and more, just like many countries around the world.It's good news for Latin Alternative group, Austria, as well, as several people have reached out to the band and the label asking where they can download the music because iTunes wasn't an option in their native country.This latest move by Apple will certainly help bring Latin American music listeners and music from around the world, [...]

The Power of an Austria Song Shines Through

Many people overlook the value of a great song. When your favorite (and most likely world famous) artist's song is being covered by someone you don't know, you don't make a big deal of it; people do this quite frequently. But when an act that isn't quite a household name has its songs recorded and shared on youtube, it's a testament to the power of the the songwriter's craft.I'm not a youtube expert, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are thousands of youtube performances by people that very few of us know, who play hit songs (that we do know) and share [...]

Austria Performs in Buenos Aires and Gains Fans

As posted by the Buenos Aires Herald last week, this piece led up to a Lisandro Aristimuño show that included Austria on the bill. The preview closes by saying, "The doors open tonight at Konex at 8pm, with Austria, a band from Rosario, warming up at 8:15pm." Well, I guess "warming up" could be used as a description. More like "fired up." Buenos Aires is for all intents and purposes, Argentina, much like London is England. It's the epicenter of the country and that includes the music industry. Austria is no stranger to Buenos Aires; it knows of it's success from the country's [...]

The Future of Latin Alternative, Pondered

Gabriel San Roman also picked up on the story of Desmond Child's prediction of the future of Latin Alternative, in his 'pondering' column of the OC Weekly today. San Roman sites his own experiences of border radio stations playing bi-lingual rock music within the same block - just what Christian Mejia was talking about. Also, San Roman's observation of what was said at the Latin Grammys the other night is also eye-opening. While it might be a bit fuzzy, I'm starting to see a picture developing of the Latin music industry dancing around the issue of firmly launching the Alternative format at commercial [...]

There Will Be a Latin Alternative Music Explosion – Not Maybe

I'm not one to air my views publicly. It's not my thing; but when I'm working on something and absolutely know it's going to happen and someone says it might happen, I have to speak up. I admire Desmond Child. I love some of his songs and even had an opportunity to meet with him when he was producing some tracks with Chynna Phillips back in the 90's at the old EMI Music Publishing studio on Sunset. (He's a nice guy, by the way.) I won't, for a second, forget how talented he is and the many accomplishments he has achieved, but when [...]

Austria Shows Off to Good Start

Austria's first two shows were good, though Saturday's show in Paramount was much better, due to the fact that there was a sizable crowd to check out the band. While Friday's show at The Stardust in Downey was a really strong set, the band didn't go on until 1am. Saturday's show was an afternoon set and many people hung around to check out the group over a two-hour period. The guys play today at Great Park in Irvine.

Marketing Latin Alternative Music Through Social Networking Sites

When I started to research marketing Latin Alternative music to consumers, the only two resources I utilized were the Internet and Billboard magazine. Yes, I was aware of some of the marketing basics regardless of the genre, but I wanted to customize my marketing strategy to Austria’s “Nada” album as best I could. The question that came to mind every time I began a research session was, “Why isn’t there a book or an instruction manual on how to market Latin music through the Internet?”Fortunately, I began running a filtered search on Google covering anything and everything having to do with Latin pop [...]

Austria to Perform at Trova Rosarina Festival

Austria has been invited to play at this year's Trova Rosarina Festival. The Trova Rosarina is one of the biggest festivals in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. The event, which takes place Monday, March 7 at Julio Parc, will feature some of Rosario's greatest artists including Silvina Garré, Rubén Goldín, Fabián Gallardo and Adrián Abonizio. Austria was invited by Pichi de Benedictis to share the stage with him - a coveted spot for the band amongst so many luminaries. In addition, the guys will be performing their own material, much of it from their new release, "Nada." This festival has become more and more [...]

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